PGTI Players Championship: Sachin Baisoya continues on top, Harsh Gangwar joins him in lead in round two

Kolkata, Feb 8 (IANS) Delhi's Sachin Baisoya followed up his excellent six-under 64 in round one with a solid four-under 66 in round two to continue on top of the leaderboard even as Harsh Gangwar, another Delhi-based golfer, joined the former in the lead after producing a 64 on day two of the Rs. 1 crore TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2023 at Tollygunge Club, here on Wednesday.

Baisoya (64-66) and Gangwar (66-64) were tied at the top with matching totals of 10-under 130. Patna's Aman Raj (66) and Noida's Gaurav Pratap Singh (65) were tied third at a total of nine-under 131.

The cut was declared at one-under 139. Fifty-two professionals and one amateur made the cut.

Sachin, the overnight leader by one shot, continued his good form on day two with five birdies and a bogey.

The 27-year-old Sachin, a bronze medalist in the team event at last year's National Games, maintained his place at the top of the pack thanks to his pin-point chipping and putting as he chipped-in for birdie from the bunker on the 17th and sank two long birdie conversions from a range of 20 to 35 feet on the 11th and first.

"I had a good ball-striking day in round one but today was more about my short-game as I chipped and putted really well. A good round at the start of the season always helps the confidence and that's what lifted my spirits going into round two today. I'll be focusing on maintaining the consistency in the last two rounds," said Sachin.

Harsh Gangwar, who was overnight tied eighth and two off the lead, was even-par for the day till the sixth before he began turning it around with a birdie on the par-5 seventh. Twenty-five-year-old Harsh picked up birdies on the following two par-5s too thanks to his accurate hitting. Gangwar also drained two 15 to 20 feet birdie putts.

"My ball-striking on the back-nine brought me into contention. I also made greens in regulation on all 18 holes today. I couldn't have asked for a better day on the course," said Harsh.

Udayan Mane (68) was tied 19th at four-under 136 while defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (68) was tied 42nd at one-under 139.

Kolkata's Sandeep Yadav (70) was the lone amateur to make the cut. Sandeep was placed tied 42nd along with Raju Ali Mollah (68), the only Kolkata professional to make the cut.